Blue Sky Thinking

I have not been out as much in recent times which is a pity. I feel very jumpy and on edge again which does not help. Even yesterday someone appeared to shout something at me while in a group of others and although they may have only been asking the time I pretended not to hear as they were on the other side of the canal and I had headphones on so kept walking. There are kids hanging around in gangs everywhere as it’s the start of the summer holidays which makes it worse. The one refuge over recent years has been the local country park of Bradgate. I bought my first digital camera primarily to take pictures of the deer here and have kept going regularly for the last few years.

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This is the ruins of the Grey family and most famous for being the childhood home Lady Jane Grey, the Queen of England for 9 days.

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Another notable feature is the tower known as ‘Old John’. Although not particularly high you can see all across the city and most of the county beyond on a clear day.

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Leicester! The blue tower is right next to the train station. It does not look far but would take about 2 ½ hours to walk here.

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However for me the most important thing is the deer. There are two herds here, the smaller fallow deer numbering near about 200 and the red deer about 150.

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The best time to visit though is certainly in the autumn during early evening when the crowds have mostly gone home. The deer emerge all around and the rut begins. Being used to people means you can get close and take decent pictures even with a small 200mm lens but there are reports of people being chased by the red deer which can weight up to 200 pounds and be very aggressive at this time of year. Without somewhere to visit like this my life over the last few years would have been considerably worse.